When a colleague was researching reasons for death decades
ago, the list included rottenness, catarrh, general debility, too weak to live,
summer complaint, liver complaint, scrofula, consumption and more.
Consumption, or tuberculosis, is now more well controlled in
the U.S. than in any other country, however it was almost romanticized in the
novels of the 1800s. Wikipedia explains it as “the idea of being quietly and
inoffensively sick” It says the symptoms of tuberculosis were preferrable to other
epidemics and infections that raged during the 19th and 20th
centuries.
Catarrh is another illness mentioned in novels, magazines,
and newspapers 100 years ago and before. Today we call it postnasal drip. It
happens because of hay fever, colds, allergies, or rhinitis when excess mucous
is produced.
Then there is scrofula, which is an inflammation in the
lymph nodes, part of the body’s immune system. It was not to be taken lightly.
Summer complaint is thought of as flu with shivering and
fever lasting three or four days. Summer complaint of the 1800s got its name
because it was most common in summer months. It was not a simple thing, and its
symptoms including vomiting and severe diarrhea were often fatal in infants and
young children.
General debility and feebleness were terms for general
weakness that was the result of a medical condition. Included in the definition
is what is now called dementia or Alzheimer’s.
More and more, big pharma hawks medications for everything
we’ve heard of and more that we have not. On the cusp of 1900, Ahnapee
residents didn’t have TV or other electronics, so how did early residents
identify their complaints, and what they could do about them?
Wikipedia tells us that by the mid-1800s, patent medicines
were made and sold over-the-counter by just about anybody. However, such
medicines originated in England where ingredients were granted government
protection. Most such medicines were not patented and, without regulation, were
proprietary or quack. Although some were found to be therapeutic, but the good
feeling might have been produced by the high alcoholic content,
Ahnapee Record’s inaugural issue came out in mid-June
1873, and its second issue carried ads advising people to help themselves
improve their health. Early Steele St. druggist W. N. Perry advertised drugs
and medicines along with whiskies and trusses right from the start.
The July 3, 1873 issue also carried an ad for Vinegar
Bitters as the most remarkable medicine the world had ever seen. Vinegar
Bitters was said to heal the sick of every disease “man is heir to.” Dr. J.
Walker’s California Vinegar Bitters were manufactured from herbs found in the
Sierra Nevada mountains of California.
As early as 1874, the Record was carrying ads for
medicines that strengthened and healed the liver. As a remedy for all
“manifestations of disease resulting from Liver Complaint,” Dr. Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery was
“positively unequaled.” Using the medicine was sure to change the liver and
stomach to an active, healthy state. If the medicine didn’t provide enough of a
laxative to move the bowels, the ad suggested taking Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant
Purgative Pellets.
During Fall 1874, colds, influenza, catarrh, and other
disagreeable complaints were prevalent in the unpleasant fall weather. It was
then that the paper informed readers that C.H. Hitt of Clay Banks was lying
dangerously ill, suffering from dropsy of a long duration. Recovery was thought
to be doubtful. Dropsy was a condition characterized by an accumulation of
fluid in tissues or in the body cavity. Edema is the term used today, although
in the 1800s, dropsy also meant heart disease, liver disease and kidney
disease.
In 1886, D. Lancelle was advertising a remedy for asthma and catarrh. Green’s August Flowers – as beautiful as nature itself – was promised to make disheartened, discouraged, worn out people as free from disease as the day they were born. Dyspepsia and Liver Complain caused 75% of biliousness, indigestion, sick headache, dizziness of the head and palpitation of the heart, nervous prostration and more. In June 1887, Green’s said only three doses of August Flowers would bring back a wonderful life. Ten cents bought a sample bottle of the medication with the lovely name.
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| Picture found on the Tizzano Museum site. |
Manchester’s English White Lily Circle Brand of Pennyroyal
Pills was advertised in 1896 as the most powerful, safe, and reliable pill of
its kind on the market. It worked for all kinds of female troubles and
everything that could arise from it. If druggists weren’t carrying White Lily,
the company would send it for $2.00, postpaid. The English Winchester Chemical
Co. of Chicago was the home of the English pennyroyal pills.
Druggist A. Logencrantz was on the northwest corner of 4th
and Steele in 1896. He advertised Begg’s Blood Purifier and Blood Maker to
remove the lingering feeling of tiredness and offer a good appetite with
regulated digestion.
Wilbur and Kwapil, just east of the northwest corner of 4th
and Steele, were stocking W.F. Severa’s remedies which came from Cedar Rapids,
Iowa. Severa promised to cure almost everything in the early 1900s. Severa had
competition from Chamberlain’s Tablets, a stomach medication intended to clean,
strengthen, tone, and invigorate, to regulate the liver and banish biliousness
“positively and effectually.” It was for sale by all dealers. Severa’s sales
were far higher.
Severa's Heart Tonic was said to quickly overcome all heart afflictions, dropsy, circulation, fainting spells while toning up the entire system. All that for $1.00. For 25 cents, Severa's Soothing Drops brought comfort and sleep to children while counteracting pain, colic, and cramps, overcoming all spasms and fever while regulating digestion.
Severa’s $1.00 Female Regulator overcame menstrual
disorders, promoting healthy activity of the organs and counteracting all
problems incidental to pregnancy, childbirth and change of life.
Severa’s Wafers were touted to quickly, and permanently,
cure all forms of headaches and neuralgia, menstrual pain, and fevers. The
product cost 25 cents and said it had no injurious effects on circulation. Then
there were Stomach Bitters. Server said it promoted secretions of the stomach,
aided digestion, stimulated the organs, increased the appetite, and overcame
weakness while invigorating the entire body, available in two sizes for 50
cents or a dollar.
Summer complaint was miserable and painful, however the W.F.
Severa Co. said it could manage that too. The stomach and bowels were most
liable to be affected during summer and the prompt use of Severa’s was sure to
quickly resolve the issues. Mr. Severa advised finding his facsimile signature
on every package to ensure the product was his. The company said its products
were sold by all druggists, one of which was Wilbur and Kwapil on Steele St. in
Algoma.
Severa had competition in Dr. Hartman’s Pe-ru-na, which
Hartman claimed was the best medication for summer complaint. Hartman said, Summer
Complaint was really Catarrh, so he differed with others. In practice for over
40 years, Hartman, of Columbus, Ohio, never lost a sole case of cholera
infantum, dysentery, diarrhea, or cholera morbus, all types of Summer
Complaint. Cholera morbus is acute gastroenteritis. Cholera infantum was a
cause of death in babies and small children. When Hartman claimed he never lost
a case, was his advertising factual?
There were medications for Dyspepsia early in the 1900s. If
you don’t enjoy the food you eat, it won’t do much for you according to the
Kodol Company marketing. The thing to do was take Kodol Dyspepsia Cure each morning
because the stomach needed to be kept healthy, pure, and sweet, to prevent
disease from setting up. Wilbur and Kwapil were selling the cure which Kodol
pledged would end all stomach troubles quickly. A few years later Kodol Dyspepsia
Cure was said to cure bad breath and to guard against indigestion following a
big meal. One N. Watkins of Lesbus, Kentucky testified that he was afflicted
with stomach troubles for 15 years but after taking just six bottles of the
Cure, he was entirely healed. He said those six bottles were worth a thousand
dollars to him since he was able to eat and digest any quantity of wholesome
food. Was he eating wholesome food and a good, well-balanced diet during those
15 years?
By spring 1904, it was said seven diseases caused by measles
were cured with Dr. Miles’ Restorative Tonic and Nervine. Rev. Hiram Bender of
West Bend did not enjoy good health until 1896 when he began taking the Restorative
Tonic and Nervine. He claimed he was a perfectly healthy young man in 1865 when
he contracted measles at Camp Randall. It took 31 years to feel good again, and
it was because of Dr. Miles. Others also hyped the product which was guaranteed
to work with the first bottle.
A year later, Mack Hamilton, a North Dakota hotel clerk,
said two bottles of DeWitt’s Little Early Risers cured him of constipation. The
pills acted as a tonic and as a drastic purge, curing headaches, constipation,
biliousness, and more. Called a safe pill, they were small and easy to take and
eat. Wilbur and Kwapil carried them.
Boedecker Bros., on the southeast corner of 4th and Steele, advertised Gloria Tonic which Mr. William Hessler of Muscoda, Wisconsin, said made him a new man. While he was taking the first box, Hessler said he could not stand on his feet, but when taking the second, he could walk across a room pushing a chair for stability. After the third box, Hessler said he could husk corn and feed sixty head of hogs.
Colonel John F Miller of Honey Grove, Texas, reported being almost dead from liver and kidney trouble. Since his doctor did him no good, he bought a 50-cent bottle of Electric Bitters in 1905 and was cured. Miller said Electric Bitters was the best medicine on earth and gave thanks to God who gave the company the knowledge to make the product. Wilbur and Kwapil promoted the product which was guaranteed to cure dyspepsia, biliousness, and kidney disease.
All druggists – including Wilbur and Kwapil – were said to
be selling Dr. Bell’s Pine-Tar-Honey for 25 or 50 cents or $1.00. Dr. Bell’s
was said to break up the worst colds in one night. Dr. Bell warned about cheap
imitations with similar sounding names. It was the bell on the bottle that
guaranteed the genuine product.
It wasn’t only patent medicines. By 1907 Grape Nuts cereal
was making headlines when a 70-year-old Maine man, troubled with dyspepsia and
liver complaint was taking medicine with only temporary relief for 20 years
when he started eating Grape-Nuts. Grape-Nuts for breakfast with a little cream
and sugar took care of his stomach issues. All it took was one daily meal of
Grape-Nuts to help him gain weight, begin sleeping well, and eating nearly
anything but greasy and starchy foods. The man said he’d write to any person with
questions if they sent a postage stamp. Grape-Nuts, sold by the Postum Co. of
Battle Creek, Michigan, enclosed the booklet “The Road to Wellville” in the
cereal packages.
When John Culligan’s obituary appeared in the Algoma
Record Herald on October 25, 1918, the sub headline said Mr. Culligan had
been ill a couple of months with liver complaint.
Red lips, bright eyes, a good appetite, and absence of pain
transform a pale sallow girl into a maiden glowing with health. Dr. Williams
said mothers watching daughters grow from girlhood into womanhood should not
neglect the pills which were adapted for that particular Illness. Dr. Williams
was another who offered testimonials in the ads and said the pills could be
gotten from a druggist or ordered from his Schenectady for 50 cents per box.
The pink pills were made with iron and did offer an impact anemia and
cirrhosis.
In 1900, Dr. T. Felix Gouraud’s oriental cream did to the skin
what other products did for the inside of the body. His products were sold by
fancy-goods’ dealers as well as druggists. Ferd T. Hopkins was the proprietor
of the company which was based in New York. Dr. McNamara was one who was based
in Milwaukee at the corner of Johnson and 580 S. Broadway. McNamara said the
company was established in 1861 for cure of nervous debility, exhaustion of
brain energy, mental aberration, physical prostration, sexual weakness, kidney afflictions,
blood diseases, barrenness, leucorrhea, month period and marriage. Leukorrhea
is vaginal discharge, but it was not explained what illness marriage was.
It was surprising to see a malaria medication in the Record
in August 1889. Ahnapee was never known as a hotbed of malaria but apparently
if it made an appearance Steketee’s Dry Bitters would take care of it. One
package made a gallon that would cure indigestion, stomach pains, fever and
ague, and kidney and bladder problems. At 30 cents for a single packet or 50
cents for two, the tonic was the cheapest remedy known. It could be used with
or without alcohol. Where malaria entered in the Grand Rapids made product is
hard to say.
As early as 1864, Joseph Defaut was conducting his Ahnapee
store on 2nd Street. When George Wing wrote his memoirs 50 years
later, he recalled the store and the astonishing amount of sarsaparilla Defaut
sold weekly. Wing commented that more than a few residents had tabs of $1.00.
$1.00 in 1864 had the purchasing power of $19.23 in 2023.
The patent medicines were not all patented. To be patented
meant revealing secrets. Alcohol. Opium and laudanum were often ingredients and
that meant addiction and overdoses. Some concoctions included arsenic, mercury,
or lead. Snake oil was popular, but the name has become synonymous with
quackery. 7-Up originally contained lithium, a mood-altering drug. Angostura
Bitters was originally a seasickness product, however it is used in cocktails
today. Carters Little Liver Pills were used for everything, but today it is a
laxative. Today’s popular Coco Cola was targeted to morphine addiction and
impotence, while Dr. Pepper was marketed to aid digestion while restoring vim
and vigor. Hires Root Beer promised to purify the blood and make cheeks rosy
but is a much-enjoyed soft drink today. Pepsi was also sold as a digestive aid.
Mrs. Moffat was selling Shoo-Fly Powders for Drunkenness was one of the FDA’s
first cases. Pope Leo and Thomas Edison were some of the celebrities who lent
their name to patent medicines.
Today’s Over-the-Counter medicines are regulated, however Bates, Perry, Boedecker Bros., Kwapil and Wilbur and all the other early druggists more than likely raised their eyebrows at several of their products. Perhaps they worked, and maybe they didn’t. Some certainly had a placebo effect, and with the amount of alcohol and narcotics in the pills and elixirs, it is easy to understand why there were testimonials.
Sources: An-an-api-sebe: Where is the River?, Ahnapee Record, AlgomaPress, Algoma Record, Algoma Record Herald, Commercial History of Algoma, WI, Vol. 1 & 2.
Photos: Algoma newspapers; Kannerwurf,, Sharpe, Johnson Collection,Tizzani Museum website.
